Now you can use LinkedIn to look for a new job — without tipping off your boss

LinkedIn just introduced a new feature called "Open
Candidates" — a way to signal that you're open to being
recruited for a new job, without letting your boss know.

Historically, the only way to announce to your LinkedIn network
that you were looking for a job was to literally make it the
headline of your profile. It's hard for recruiters to miss, but
it's also a giant warning sign to your colleagues that you're
looking for a change.

Once you flag yourself as an open candidate, you'll show up in
recruiters' LinkedIn searches, even if nothing else about your
profile shows you're looking for new opportunities.

Just go into your LinkedIn preferences and select the "Let
recruiters know you're open" option. You can even choose what
kind of opportunities you're looking for. Here's what it looks
like:

LinkedIn

Funnily enough, LinkedIn says this feature idea came from an
episode of HBO's "Silicon Valley," as the company explains in a
blog post:

"There was a great joke made on
the HBO series Silicon Valley where one of the main
characters signaled on LinkedIn that he wanted to leave the
fictional startup. Within seconds, he was hearing from
recruiters. This is exactly the experience we want each and every
one of our members to have."

Here's the scene in question:

Other new features announced today by LinkedIn include "Apply
Starters," which lets you share your LinkedIn profile with
recruiters when applying for a job, and "Career Pages," which let
companies highlight all the job growth opportunities available to
job candidates and encourage them to apply.

Job recruitment features like these play right into
LinkedIn's core business. Recently, the professional social
network announced
LinkedIn Learning, a new set of online educational programs
designed to give job-seekers the skills they need to stay
competitive.